December was another strong month for waterfront sales on Winnipesaukee with a total of 15 properties changing hands which is the same count as last December. The average sales price of $1.043 million is up considerably from the $675,300 average posted last year bolstered by the fact that five of the 15 sales exceeded the million dollar mark. That's an outstanding December and a great way to finish off the year.The least expensive sale on the lake was at 482 Rattlesnake Island in Alton where a seasonal, three bedroom, A-frame cottage built in 1975 found a new owner. This cottage needs some upgrading unless the 70's vintage paneling and green carpets are your taste, but I am sure the new owners looked past that and saw value in the 1,724-square-feet of living space, the flat 1-acre lot with 108-ft. of frontage, the sandy beach, and the great views. I bet plans are in the works for a spring makeover. This property was listed in June at $310,000 with a deal struck at $275,000 after being on the market for 121 days. The current tax assessed value for the property is $322,100 which is up slightly from the $311,700 shown last year. See, the buyer is making money already...The highest sale in December on the lake was also the second highest for the year and is located at 268 Route 109 in Tuftonboro. The property consists of an 1800's vintage post and beam cape located at the entrance to a 40 acre parcel of land. A winding drive leads down to a seasonal cottage at the water's edge. This rustic structure has two bedrooms, a large living room with stone fireplace, and a great screened porch. With 1,450-feet of sandy waterfront, dock, great views, and no development restrictions it wouldn't surprise me to see a few new homes built on the property. Time will tell. This property was listed at $4.3 million and sold for $3.4 million after almost a year on the market. No assessment data was listed in the MLS. This was a great investment for the new owner.This has been a pretty darn good year for waterfront sales! We finished out the year with a total of 130 sales on Winnipesaukee. That's a 22 percent increase from the 107 sales in 2011! The average sales price bumped back up over the million mark at $1,017,367, up from the $994,688 posted last year. The sales price averaged 89 percent of the list price at the time of the sale. Moultonborough had the most sales with 43 homes changing hands at an average price of $925,779 (that's up from 32 sales last year). Wolfeboro had the highest average sales price at $1.6 million with 13 sales. That's also up from the $1.2 million average for the 14 sales in 2011.The highest sale of the year honors goes to the property at 440 Edgewater Drive in Gilford on Governor's Island. This magnificent Craftsman-style home has a touch of Adirondack flair with six over one pane windows, custom built-ins, and coffered and wood ceilings. Built in 2007, this fine home has 6,575-square-feet of space, five bedrooms including a main level master suite and two en-suites upstairs, six baths, a country kitchen, private media room, four sided fireplace, library, private office, and two family rooms. There are multiple decks and patios outside from which to enjoy the views. The 1-acre lot has expansive lawns, 188-feet of frontage, a sandy beach, docks, and a jetty. This property was listed at $4.395 million and sold for $3.5 million after 241 days on the market.There were no waterfront sales on Winnisquam in December, but we did finish the year with 16 transactions at an average price of $502,125 which is not too, too, bad. That total is down from the 23 sales posted last year but equals the 16 sales in 2010 and the average sales price is up from the $480,536 average posted last year. The highest sale on Winnisquam for the year was at 438 Shore Drive in Laconia. It is a custom built, 3,700-square-foot, contemporary style home which was built in 2000 and has four bedrooms, three baths, a custom kitchen, a formal dining room, family room, gas fireplace, cathedral ceilings, hardwood and tile floors, and great westerly sunset views. The home sits on a .66-acre lot with perennial gardens, 150-feet of frontage, and a 40-foot dock. This property was listed at $989,000, reduced to $795,000, and sold for $765,000 after 618 days on the market.Squam Lake also drew a blank in December but finished off the year at six sales at a whopping average price of $3.151 million! There were five sales in 2010 and seven last year so sales are okay but far off the peak total of 15 in 2005. The high average sales price is due to the mega sale last month at 92 Unsworth Road in Moultonborough which was listed at $9.95 million and sold for $8.7 million. This property consists of a 4,400-square-foot, five bedroom, six bath Adirondack home and guest house built in 2004 which sit on a mere 32.5 acres of privacy, fields, woodlands, and shorefront with Southwesterly exposure. There were no photos shown in the MLS and not much of a description of the property other than the terms "unique, extraordinary, and exquisite" but I think we can all get the picture...So, 2012 was a great year overall for both sellers and buyers on the area lakes. The sales numbers were up tremendously on Winnipesaukee, the numbers are a little better, and the other area lakes are holding their own. So we're looking forward to a great 2013 on the lakes just because, as the saying goes, "they ain't making anymore waterfront ya know..." and we've got some of the best around!Please feel free to visit ww.lakesregionhome.com to learn more about the Lakes Region real estate market and comment on this article and others. Data was compiled as of 1/15/13 using the Northern New England Real Estate MLS System. Roy Sanborn is a REALTOR® at Roche Realty Group and can be reached at 603-677-8420